Career changers head for the kitchen

Food

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, September 24, 2009

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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One of the four Baking and Pastry Instructors Aaron Brown (left) watches over Sarah Hammord and Joshua Wharton as they cut the loaves of bread before baking, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at the Culinary Institute, Wednesday August 2, 2009, in St. Helena, Calif. less

One of the four Baking and Pastry Instructors Aaron Brown (left) watches over Sarah Hammord and Joshua Wharton as they cut the loaves of bread before baking, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at the Culinary ... more

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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A ground cherry harvested at the Chronicle rooftop garden in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009.

A ground cherry harvested at the Chronicle rooftop garden in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 18, 2009.

Photo: Laura Morton, Special To The Chronicle

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Aaron Brown, one of the Baking and Pastry Instructors( right) explains to students Sarah Hammord (left) Remmik Nielson and Joshua Wharton why you need to cut the bread, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at the Culinary Institute, Wednesday August 2, 2009, in St. Helena, Calif. less

Aaron Brown, one of the Baking and Pastry Instructors( right) explains to students Sarah Hammord (left) Remmik Nielson and Joshua Wharton why you need to cut the bread, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at ... more

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

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Baking and Pastry Instructor Aaron Brown ( right) shows Anna Melby how to make croissant, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at the Culinary Institute, Wednesday August 2, 2009, in St. Helena, Calif.

Baking and Pastry Instructor Aaron Brown ( right) shows Anna Melby how to make croissant, in the Hearth Bread and Roll class, at the Culinary Institute, Wednesday August 2, 2009, in St. Helena, Calif.

Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle

Career changers head for the kitchen

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"Give me your jacket."

It's a phrase heard weekly on "Hell's Kitchen," as another aspiring chef is sent away in shame, with host Gordon Ramsay's voice dripping in disdain. Yet rather than instilling fear, such scenarios seem to be inspiring more people to dream of being a professional chef - the endless glamour, fame, riches - and enroll in culinary classes.

For some, the classes are a lark, an opportunity to perfect the art of chop and chiffonade. For a new breed of students, however, the studies are serious stuff as they consider a complete change of careers in midlife.

In August, the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone in St. Helena introduced Career Discovery Boot Camp, five-day programs that offer a glimpse of the professional food-service field. It's a more palatable option for people who aren't quite ready to commit to, say, the school's 30-week Baking & Pastry Certificate Program.

Other Bay area culinary schools, meanwhile, are seeing increased attendance in their non-degree courses by middle age people contemplating new jobs.

At City College of San Francisco, the Culinary and Service Skills Training Program's noncredit courses are at capacity, with recent students including a former professional poker player. At Napa Valley College's cooking school, up to half the students say they're seeking new careers.

Greystone's first Discovery class, Baking & Pastry, had nine students out of a capacity of 18. CIA's Jay Blotcher says the next class, Culinary Arts, starting Oct. 5, is drawing more people for its focus on knife skills and the cuisines of Asia, Mexico and the Mediterranean. A third class, in wine, begins Nov. 16.

Francisca Luallen of Edwards (Kern County), a former corporate manager who took the boot camp's baking class, says it helped nurture her dream of opening a bakery.

For fellow student Diane De Filipi of Napa, a former executive for a naval weapons systems manufacturer who now owns a bed and breakfast and conducts private cooking classes, the camp was "an opportunity to continue to reinvent myself in the food and hospitality world I escaped to when I ran away from the corporate world," she says. "Food is constantly evolving."

The programs "are not for the faint of heart," says Adam Busby, CIA director of continuing education. Students wear chef's uniforms and work frenetically from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Greystone's professional teaching kitchens.

Cuts and burns are common badges of honor as students grasp details like the firepower of a 30,000-BTU commercial range and the fact that those professional knives are really, really sharp.

In an economy that has hit restaurants hard, some might wonder whether a culinary career is a wise choice. Approximately 4,000 restaurants have closed nationwide in the past year, according to the NPD Group. And the CIA camps are investments, at $1,885.50 each, plus accommodations.

Yet, the nearly $2,000 fee is a lot less than an amateur would lose in a failed restaurant, school officials point out. As for job possibilities, "We are constantly getting calls from restaurants, hotels, bakeries, looking for graduates," says CIA Baking & Pastry instructor John Difilippo.

Still, instructors try to be realistic about being a chef. John Ash, a former Santa Rosa restaurateur who now teaches CIA classes, details the 14-hour days and typically low starting pay.

"We have a 12-step program for people who want to be in the restaurant business," he jokes. And there are no tips on how to handle a fantasy come true of life as a culinary rock star.

That's because instructors stress the reality of being a professional chef is rarely as glamorous as on TV. There are piles of potatoes to peel and buckets of beets to brunoise.

And when you do it, "You don't get to make the cool chop-chop-chop noise with your knife," says CIA chef demonstrator Andrew Wild. "That dulls the blade."

City College of San Francisco: The downtown campus offers a nine-month Culinary and Service Skills Training Program, with hands-on experience running the college's Educated Palate restaurant. (415) 239-3152. www.ccsf.edu.

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